Swimming. Not everyone’s cup of tea, and it certainly wasn’t mine when I started triathlon.
The Dread of The Tuesday Night Pool Session
I used to dread every tri club swim session I went to; dragging myself out of the house late on a Tuesday evening to drive to the pool, spending the session trying to keep up with everyone else in my lane feeling slow and inefficient in the water, then driving home again in the dark and the cold. Three hours of my evening gone. I’d have much preferred to get out the headphones and trainers to head out for a run. Easy.
Swimming seemed like such a faff when I started going to the pool to prepare for my first triathlon (a standard distance tri with a harbour sea swim). But needs must. I knew I had to at least master the challenge of breathing properly during front crawl and some basic technique, not to mention hopefully gaining some swimming fitness too.
My negativity towards swimming wasn’t due to a fear of the water; I have always been confident in water thanks to spending many childhood summer’s at the beach and hours playing and swimming in the sea. I also had the obligatory school swim lessons but never enjoyed these; overly tight swim caps, scary swim teachers and talcum powder haunted my memories of the swimming pool. So as you can imagine, I wasn’t overjoyed at the idea of getting back in the pool to train for a triathlon.
However, as time went on, and thanks to guidance from coaches at my local tri club, I was able to get to grips with swimming again and even started to enjoy the sessions and liked feeling part of our Tuesday evening group; the social aspect was definitely a pull. With time, I even started to look forward to my weekly swim.
I then went to a few open water sessions in the lake in the lead up to the race to get used to the feeling of swimming in open water. Being out in the fresh air, not having to worry about lane ropes or holding people up in the pool made the experience so much more enjoyable and my love for swimming started to grow.
How 1:1 Coaching Transformed My Front Crawl Efficiency
After successfully completing my first tri, I then got into the routine of swimming 2-3 times a week to train for other events and had one to one coaching from Efficient Endurance. It was then that my technique, speed and endurance improved no end. Having video analysis was an invaluable tool in this which enabled me to focus on problem areas and gave an individual focus to my training.
Besides this, I also just loved the feel good factor of a good swim session before or after work and building this into my weekly training plan. I would always feel so refreshed after a swim, almost like a ‘reset button’ had been pressed.
So, if you hate swimming and have to drag yourself to the pool like I did, keep going! Your consistency will pay off and you never know, you might even begin to enjoy it one day!
Abbie Dickens
Efficient Endurance Athlete
